Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

Redouble our efforts…
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
22 Apr 2014
🖨️ Print Article

by BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner

When our giants go down, our spines must straighten up and create new beginnings.

 

Redouble our efforts…

(For Robert Knight, Chokwe, Amiri,

And others known and less known…)

by BAR Poet-in-Residence Raymond Nat Turner

 

When our Knights are captured 

Or fall on battlefields, as they 

Surely must, and we lose their

Brilliant lights and we are

Scrambling to pry pens,

Swords, spears, bread and

Roses from stainless steel 

Grips of their icy hands—

Scrambling to hoist our 

Fallen banners, temporarily

Mired in mud and blood, 

Even higher, scrambling 

To staunch rivulets of

Brine from our sweetly

Shattered hearts…

 

When our giants — in 

All sizes — go down, 

Our spines straighten

Honoring, immortalizing,

Their legends, burnished 

Names, by divvying up

Cosmic, ancient, work

Creating them in the 

Beginning…

 

Raymond Nat Turner can be contacted at upsurgejazz.com.

 

Raymond Nat Turner © 2014 All Rights Reserved

 

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Trump is a Criminal, But the Democrats Belong to the Same Mafiia
    Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    Trump is a Criminal, But the Democrats Belong to the Same Mafia
    09 Jan 2020
    The Republicans and Democrats are united under the American imperial banner, and only differ on details of strategy to maintain Washington’s global domination.
  • Freedom Rider: Iran and the Need for Black Activism
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Iran and the Need for Black Activism
    08 Jan 2020
    Black Americans, as perpetual targets of US lies and attacks, should be the first to reject Washington’s rationales for war with Iran.
  • Sheep-Dogging on Steroids: The New Democratic Party Anti-War Activists
    Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor
    Sheep-Dogging on Steroids: The New Democratic Party Anti-War Activists
    08 Jan 2020
    The rhetoric of the Democratic “progressives” only gives cover to the ongoing criminality of the U.S. state and its commitment to permanent war – with congressional approval.
  • John Kerry Did It 
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    John Kerry Did It 
    08 Jan 2020
    The “it” being: put Republicans in power by allowing George Bush to steal the presidency for the second time, in 2004, with no assistance from Russians, Wikileaks or Jill Stein. 
  • In the Year Ahead, Both Perils and Prospects Exist for the American Left
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    In the Year Ahead, Both Perils and Prospects Exist for the American Left
    08 Jan 2020
    There may be two political parties in the United States, but there is only one ruling class agenda.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us